It was found that creation of collateral channels in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients allowed expired air to pass out of the lungs and decompressed hyper-inflated lungs. Such methods and devices for creating and maintaining collateral channels are discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/633,651 filed on Aug. 7, 2000, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,494; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/947,144 filed Sep. 4, 2001, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,644, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/946,706, filed Sep. 4, 2001, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,606, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/947,126 filed Sep. 4, 2001, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,812; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/317,338 filed on Sep. 4, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/334,642 filed on Nov. 29, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/367,436 filed on Mar. 20, 2002; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/374,022 filed on Apr. 19, 2002 each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The creation of these collateral channels or extra-anatomic openings also provide convenient access points to the lung parenchyma for delivery of substances to treat diseased tissue that may reside within the lung. The use of such openings allows for treatment in a minimally invasive manner and efficiently delivering needed substances to the desired area.